Guitarist Yvette Young, known for her innovative fingerstyle and two-handed tapping techniques, has become a defining figure in modern math-rock through her work with the band Covet. However, in recent years, Young has ventured into new musical territories, embracing ambient soundscapes and experimental collaborations that showcase her evolving artistry.
One of her most intriguing recent projects is a partnership with Hatch, a company specializing in sleep aids and bedtime audio content. Together, they created Emo Sound Baths, an audio series designed to soothe listeners with ambient sound inspired by emo aesthetics. This venture marks a deliberate shift in Young’s approach to songwriting, pushing her into a more reflective, emotionally resonant creative space.
Speaking from her studio, where much of the Emo Sound Baths material was produced, Young noted the unusual but exciting fusion of emo themes with meditative music. “I feel like including the word ‘emo’ was just funny to me, because I never thought the two could go together,” she shared.
The collaboration coincided with her recent appearance at the NAMM Show, where she introduced her signature Walrus Audio pedal, the Qi Etherealizer. The pedal, which Young had described as a tool to help jumpstart musical ideas, became central to her creative process for the Emo Sound Baths. “It’s so daunting to start from nothing,” she explained. “Using the Qi, I would just play a progression, press freeze on Granular or Phrase Sample, and layer it with dense reverb to create a beautiful field of color. That would inspire a riff.”
To build these sonic landscapes, Young turned to a combination of effects gear including Hologram’s Chroma Console, Collision Devices’ Black Hole Symmetry, Meris’s Mercury7 Reverb, DigiTech’s FreqOut, and an EBow. These tools, coupled with inspiration from artists like Hammock and Jesu, helped her craft immersive 20-minute compositions that evoke specific memories and emotions.
She described her process as one of world-building, using both musical textures and field recordings—such as morning doves, passing cars, and chimes—to evoke a sense of place and memory. “There are moments where I feel like the composition would be emotionally enhanced if I added ambient sounds,” Young said, likening the result to placing the listener inside a fully realized scene.
Young also continued to experiment with her choice of instruments and tunings, adding new colors to her musical palette. She used a sparkly pink Ibanez guitar with P-90s, which she hinted might become part of her signature line, an Ibanez bass, and a “beautifully dead”-sounding Harmony acoustic. For tunings, she incorporated alternate setups such as the “American Football tuning” (F, A, C, G, C, E) and its variants.
Despite the shift in style, listeners will still recognize her signature sound in the compositions. “I think perhaps, by default, I’m a melodically verbose person,” she said. “But when I’m writing something for 20 minutes, I have to focus more on the overall picture rather than cramming details into every moment.”
When asked whether commercial motivations played a role in this new direction, Young dismissed the notion. “It isn’t necessarily financial,” she said. “I was on the model where it’s tour, tour, tour… I had this moment where I asked myself, ‘What do I even want out of music?’”
Personal struggles over the past few years pushed her to reconsider her path, leading her to explore recording as a more sustainable and fulfilling mode of expression. “I took a gamble, jumping from being an art teacher to being a touring musician. I can gamble again,” she stated. “I’m going to go from touring to investing in recording gear and see what happens.”
She also addressed the current music industry landscape, citing oversaturation and low streaming payouts as significant challenges. “It’s really difficult to figure out how to monetize certain things,” she admitted. “But Hatch’s offer felt like something that aligned with what I want to do with my time and creativity.”
For fans worried that Young’s shift into ambient music might mean the end of her performance career, she offered reassurance. She is currently working on several projects, including more solo releases, music videos, collaborations, and a new tour with Covet, now joined by Claire Puckett on bass and Jessica Burdeaux on drums.
Summing up her artistic philosophy, Young reflected, “I’m a musician, and what that means to me is: I make stuff, I write things, I play with sound – and if I can get paid just making stuff that I’d already want to make, then that’s just so aligned and such a huge cherry on top.”
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